Sepp Blatter deserves a Nobel prize for his work with FIFA, according to Russia president Vladimir Putin.

Russia will host the World Cup in 2018 but FIFA, football’s governing body, is currently embroiled in a corruption crisis which includes an investigation into awarding the tournament to the country.

However, following a meeting between Blatter and Putin in St Petersburg on Saturday, the Russian president backed the Swiss for special recognition.

‘We all know the situation developing around Mr Blatter right now. I don’t want to go into details but I don’t believe a word about him being involved in corruption personally,’ Putin told Swiss broadcaster RTS.